"Though the Winter gathering has come and gone, it is not too late to get involved in the OSA Parents Of Color organization."​-Joaquin Antonio Montes De Oca Calica Sein Torres

The OSA Parents Of Color held the OSA Parents Of Color Winter Gathering on Sunday, December 16, 2018, in the Black Box at OSA, “Our main idea was for people to show up and share a piece of their culture by bringing a dish or an artifact from their culture.” Says Jocelyn Duffy with the Digital Media Department “We had a lot of people from a lot of different backgrounds. It was nice to meet with a lot of different people that I would otherwise not meet. I hope that they all got a chance to eat good food, relax for a bit and just be in good spirits and just feel a little bit reenergized.”

This was the first Winter Gathering to happen in OSA history, though Duffy says, “Hopefully this becomes an annual gathering that becomes something bigger.”

“I think that a Parents Of Color gathering should happen at least twice a year,” the Co-Chair for the Board Of Students Of Color, Leila Mottley agrees, “Winter is chaotic and I think I would appreciate it. Also, We are working as a school to make sure that the non-English-speaking people to have access to the community.”

According to Duffy, “The main purpose was to kind of take a break and build community. It was for people of color to get together. We put up lights and got Kwanzaa decor and Papel Picado and eventually we just had time to share out what we liked about our cultures. We all got to just learn from each other to see each other background. When we have people of color groups, they’re called affinity groups that are just people who have something in common. The purpose of an affinity group is to dig deeper into the thing and even though these events might seem unnecessary they are to help people feel more at home here.” “I think it was just to create a sense of community to make sure we aren't all fractured on different pages.” Mottley adds, “It’s important to remember that were part of a larger community.”

And though the Winter gathering has come and gone, it is not too late to get involved in the OSA Parents Of Color organization. According to Duffy, “[The POC] is open to all parents of color at OSA.”